Nostalgia
by ttfan111robstar1
Summary: Seto carries Mokuba to bed after uncovering the secrets of The Winged Dragon Of Ra, and gets a bit nostalgic.


Stars speckled the sky as the flow of the night was interrupted by Kaiba Corp's massive blimp. It was late, far too late for most people to be up, but aboard that blimp time seemed to have some sort of stasis. Hours were flipped around, day and night seemed to be one in the same with the number of people awake, and routine seemed to fall by the wayside. It seemed perfectly natural- normal even- to be awake this late.

Seto Kaiba was used to late nights and tireless dedication to his work, so being up as late as he was was not out of the ordinary for him. Staring at the blue light of the large computer screen in front of him was what he might be found doing on any given day, with the exception of the computer itself being much larger than normal. However, it was the middle of the Battle City Tournament, so his business there was anything but normal.

Decoding the secrets of The Winged Dragon Of Ra had taken longer than Seto had anticipated. However, he felt accomplished when he realized that he had uncovered all the secrets the card may have once held. Now all that was left to do was defeat it and win it for himself, something he knew would not be an issue at all.

With a satisfied sigh, he glanced at the clock. 12:37 AM. Somehow he'd managed to do this in less time than he'd thought. A miracle. He swiveled his chair around to see his little brother curled up beneath his signature white coat. The sight brought a small smile to his face. His brother was one of the few things that could bring him joy anymore.

Seto stood up from his chair and stretched, before gathering his little brother up in his arms to carry him to bed. It was rare for his little brother to not fall asleep in his own bed, but on occasion it happened. Every time it did, Seto would scoop up his little brother and carry him to bed the way a parent would a small child. He tucked his jacket around his little brother- noting how Mokuba clutched it even in sleep- to make sure his little brother didn't get cold. Mokuba stirred a bit at the change, but soon settled against his brother's chest.

Seto Kaiba heard the woosh of the steel doors as they opened, and walked through them. In the stillness of the night, not even his shoes made noise against the floor. It was as though his body understood the need for silence for his baby brother. Sounds of light snoring blocked by doorways came through the blimp, other passengers getting the rest they so needed. He knew who was in which room, but didn't have a care to think about them at this time. This time of solace, of peace, was so foreign to him that he wanted to soak it in. He hadn't felt so much at home in the darkness since…

He let out a soft sigh, breaking the silence of the night. It wasn't often his mind deigned to take him back to memories of the orphanage, but on occasion the stars would align just right and force a memory into his brain. This memory, however, did not bring him pain, so he let it play on.

_The night after they'd first come to the orphanage, Mokuba had crawled into his bed, wrapping his small arms around him._

_"__Mokie?" Seto had murmured. "You okay?"_

_"Can't sleep." The tiny voice had piped up. "Lonely."_

_"I know. But you have to get back to bed. You'll get in trouble if you're here."_

_"Don't care about that. Just want you." Came the sleepy reply._

_Seto had sighed. "Okay. Just for a little bit." He'd said._

_Mokuba had nestled himself into his brother's side. The open window near the bed let a cold breeze blow in, and brought in the smell of morning dew and night air. However, neither of them seemed to notice. Seto held his brother close, and fell asleep._

Seto found a smile trying to twitch it's way onto his face. He had so many dismal memories of that orphanage, of the time after with Gozaburo, but that small memory was like a thread of silver light in a dark night. The bright spot in the darkness. The fact that his little brother had come to him for comfort- the fact that he still did- was something he would never stop being thankful for.

He sometimes wondered what he had done to deserve such a loyal, understanding little brother. Mokuba understood him better than any person on the planet. When he had to work late, Mokuba would go to bed without question. When he had to take a business trip and Mokuba couldn't come, his brother understood. When he got too much in his own head, it was Mokuba who pulled him back out. Despite all of his wealth, all of his status, all of his reputation, nothing would ever be as important as the boy asleep in his arms.

Seto was interrupted from his train of thought when Mokuba let out a small moan and stirred in his arms. Seto's reaction was so automatic he didn't even think about it. He hushed his little brother gently.

"Shhh. Go back to sleep." He whispered gently.

Mokuba continued to fuss maybe a moment more after the words were spoken, before he finally settled down. Seto smiled at that as Mokuba pulled his jacket closer to him.

Seto made it back to Mokuba's room on the blimp with no more interruptions. The sliding of the door signaled it's opening and closing, as the peaceful darkness of the room enveloped them both. Seto nearly sighed in relief, before he stopped himself, not wanting to wake his brother.

He carefully removed Mokuba's shoes and set them on the floor, before tucking his brother under the covers of the bed. Mokuba nestled down into them with ease, but never once let go of his brother's jacket. Kaiba smiled at him for a moment, and pressed a gentle kiss to his little brother's forehead.

"Goodnight, Mokuba." The words were an almost inaudible whisper.

As he was about to turn and leave, a hand caught his and he turned around in surprise.

Mokuba looked at him with sleepy eyes, their violet gray piercing the darkness in a way that nothing else could.

"Seto?"

"Yes, Mokuba?"

"Will you sing?"

Seto's eyes widened in surprise. When they had been little, Seto had sang all the time to his little brother. Every night in the orphanage before they went to their separate rooms, Seto would always sing to his brother before bed. It was a tradition started before their parents had died, and was only stopped because of Gozaburo's forced separation of them. Gradually, Mokuba had learned to fall asleep without his brother singing to him. Even after Gozaburo was gone, Mokuba hadn't asked for those songs again. Seto couldn't help but wonder what had prompted this, and could only conclude that Mokuba may have been having a dream similar to what he was thinking about earlier. Perhaps it was just how the stillness of the night had seemed to overtake them both that had caused this, but he shoved that aside for now. Feeling a bit of nostalgia overtake him, he sat on Mokuba's bed, began stroking his ebony locks, and started to sing.

"One evening as the sun went down

And the jungle fire was burning,

Down the track came a hobo hiking,

And he said, "Boys, I'm not turning

I'm headed for a land that's far away

Beside the crystal fountains

So come with me, we'll go and see

The Big Rock Candy Mountains

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,

There's a land that's fair and bright…"

As Seto sang, Mokuba's eyes drooped shut, comforted by his brother's voice. Slowly, he felt himself drifting off to sleep. But just before he did, he sighed softly.

"I love you, Seto."

Seto smiled in the darkness. "I love you too, Mokuba."


End file.
